<h6 style="text-align: center"> <a href="http://4thwalldramaturgy.byu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/20171102_193817_Burst01.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-6305 aligncenter" src="http://4thwalldramaturgy.byu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/20171102_193817_Burst01-206x300.jpg" alt="" width="206" height="300" /></a>Mikah Hansen practicing the play
Mikah Hansen practicing the play,
Happy Holidays by Chelsea Mortenson
The upcoming Microburst Theatre Festival features six plays written by BYU students and directed by George Nelson. To bring new plays to the stage takes a lot of editing, revision, and workshopping over months to maybe years. For Microburst, these playwrights get to have life breathed into their plays thanks to the four actors of Microburst; Clara Richardson, Jacob Khalil, Mikah Hansen, and Ren Cottam.
Clara Richardson and Mikah Hansen, both BFA acting majors at BYU, shared their thoughts of being actors in Microburst. “The best part of working with new plays is the freshness of the material! They're not stories I've heard over and over before or performed in multiple times.” Hansen said as she discussed debuting these new plays for audiences. Richardson agreed, “ I have been learning a lot about how to create a character for the first time as an actor. None of the characters in these scripts have ever been portrayed on stage and we only have ten minutes to create a character the audience can relate to”.
Jacob Khali, Clara Richardson, and Ren Cottam
practicing the play Untapped by Rylee Witbeck
Besides the fact that these are new plays, the actors also have to perform as multiple characters throughout the show. “ It is a smaller cast which is fun and each of us are playing anywhere from 2-4 characters,” Richardson explained, “…we need to make each of them very different so we aren't just playing the same character every time.” Hansen also added to the difficulty of portraying more than one character, “Microburst is different than other productions I've been in because it involves so many different stories. Normally, you're only performing one show as one character, but Microburst requires actors to play multiple parts in multiple shows--sometimes back to back.”
Performances will be held at the Nelke Experimental Theater at the Harris Fine Arts Center onNovember 2 through December 2 at 7:30, with a matinee on December 2 at 2:00. Tickets are available at the box office.
The cast has been participating in workshops with Teresa Love, an adjunct professor at BYU who teaches theatre for the elementary classroom, storytelling, and adapts many of the TYA plays performed on the BYU stage. (Fun fact: She wrote the script to BYU's most recent mainstage play, The Selfish Giant.) She is currently helping the cast of The Fisherman and His Wife construct a post-show interactive workshop for 3rd graders. These workshops will take place after the students have seen the show performed at their elementary school. In the images below, the cast and stage manager collaborate to first establish, then create frozen images of the play's themes: CONTENTMENT, POSSIBILITIES, DESIRE, UNSATISFIED, REVERSED, HAPPY. Overall Message: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU FISH FOR! Can you see any of these themes or messages represented in the poses below? MORE WORKSHOP PICTURES TO COME!
by Janine Sobeck, dramaturg Tech week is one of the most exciting moments in any show. It's the time when we get to leave our rehearsal room, move onto stage, and add all of the production elements. To help the actors adapt to all the changes we usually make a gradual transition. Pre-tech: While still in the rehearsal room, actors are given certain rehearsal props and costumes to help them in the creation of their characters. In the case of Princess Academy, all the girls were given rehearsal skirts and all the characters were given rehearsal books and and other items (such as the miri flower). We also added all of the instruments used in the show. Tech day 1: The first day of tech included adding the set and sound. One of the biggest changes for our actors is the ramps on our stage. They finally had the opportunity to climb the mountain! Tech day 2: It's time to add the props! In order to support Director Megan Sanborn Jones' vision of the show, prop designer Scott Jackson made all of the props out of paper, letters, and books. Tech days 3-4: This is what we call an "All Tech." The final elements of the show (lights, costumes, and make-up) are added into the mix. Day 3 is spent working through all the cues in act 1 and day 4 is spent working through act 2. Tech days 5-7: The time has come to run the show! These are our dress rehearsals, where the goal is to do the show exactly as if it was a real performance. This means starting at our normal curtain time and trying to never stop. The director, playwright, dramaturgs, and designers sit in the audience making notes about what is working and what still needs to change. At the end of the nights, the actors and designers are given feedback and we rehearse any moments that need some extra attention. Tech day 8: Which is today! Tonight is the time when we finally get to add the final element of the show: the audience! Our final day of tech is known as the "preview performance." Friends, families, and students are invited to see the show before we officially open. While we always reserve the right to stop the show if necessary (it is, after all, still a rehearsal), we hope that everything will go smoothly!
Letters, pictures, voice recordings, journals, videos. There are so many ways to remember and communicate our experiences long after we or the people and the places we made the memories with are gone. Jane Austen wrote not only novels and poems, but also many letters and journals. Unfortunately for us, most of her personal writings were burned by her sister Cassandra upon Jane Austen’s death to keep Jane’s personal life private. Additionally, throughout Pride and Prejudice, letters are used as confessions of love, anger, and sadness.
